The antibacterial activities of several types of chitosan were measured against Staphylococcus aureus and evaluated for their application to antibacterial textile finishing. The ％ reduction of bacteria of the chitosans prepared in our laboratory were between 72 and 87%. The two water-soluble chitosans with molecular weights 1,000 and 3,000 did not show antibacterial activities. The deacetylation of chitosan was appeared to increase antibacterial activity. The ％ reduction in bacterial density of the 86％-deacetylated chitosan solution was 56% where that of the 76％-deacetylated chitosan solution was only 17％ at 0.1% chitosan concentration. Molecular weights of the chitosans seemed not to affect antibacterial activities of chitosans. The antibacterial activity of the acid-soluble, 86%-deacetylated chitosan with 4 cps showed 98% of the ％ reduction at the level of 0.2％ chitosan. The ％ reduction of bacteria of this chitosan was higher at the higher concentration of acetic acid in the chitosan-bacterial mixture. The antibacterial activity was increased with the pH change over the range of 4.0 to 6.5. The 100% of the ％ reduction of bacteria was achieved within 4 hour incubation of the chitosan-bacterial mixture. According to the data obtained from the above experiments, the four chitosans among the six prepared in our laboratory were proved to be valuable for antibacterial textile finishing.